Officers expect continuity with new chief

POLICE REACTION: Veteran officers who previously served under returning Chief Mack Vines describe him as "old school.''

By LEANORA MINAI and MIKE BRASSFIELD

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 8, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- Police officers are not surprised Mack Vines is back.

Many of them said Friday that they always believed he possessed the law enforcement experience and political connections to be named the city's 12th police chief.

"Battle-tested," is how outgoing police Chief Goliath Davis III described Vines.

Vines, the city's chief from 1974 to 1980, also was chief in Charlotte, N.C., Cape Coral and Dallas, his last stint. Dallas officials fired him in 1990 after he was charged with perjury. He was acquitted.

Rank-and-file officers do not see Vines as an agent for radical change in St. Petersburg. He was picked, they say, to keep the department on a steady course while the next chief is groomed to replace him in several years.

"I worked for him before," said burglary Sgt. Bill Lusby, a 28-year veteran. "I don't think we'll see a lot of difference in the way the department's being run."

Vines, 63, will continue Davis' initiatives, particularly the strict adherence to rules, minus the outgoing chief's tendency to micromanage, officers said.

"I just don't think he's going to have his hands involved in every little aspect of the Police Department," said Jack Soule, a patrol officer and union president.

One of Vines' first challenges will be to smooth relations with the union that represents most of St. Petersburg's officers. There is no love lost between Davis and the Pinellas County Police Benevolent Association, known as the PBA.

"Our relationship with Chief Davis is history," said Bill LauBach, the PBA's executive director.

The PBA has a laundry list of management issues to share with Vines, who never joined a labor union in his 41-year law enforcement career.

Soule, the union president, wants Vines to increase officers' salaries. He also wants the new chief to make sure internal affairs investigations do not drag out, and he wants Vines to ensure that the number of officers assigned to the street is adequate.

"I think there's some things we can resolve and work out without butting heads and going to war," Soule said.

Vines said he will have an open dialogue with the union.

"We might not agree on everything," he said.

Officers say they want Vines to bring a fresh perspective and keep St. Petersburg progressive and competitive with other departments.

"I want our agency to exceed the other agencies in the area," robbery Detective Steve Corbet said.

Vines is no stranger to veteran officers. Officers remember the last time he ran the department and when he returned temporarily to oversee the department in 1992 after Chief Ernest "Curt" Curtsinger was fired.

"He always seemed very fair," Assistant Police Chief Debbie Prine said of Vines.

"He's old school," Sgt. Dennis Simmons, a 32-year veteran, said of Vines. "He came up through the ranks. He knows how the department runs. He knows how to run the department. And I think he'll do very well."

A lot of the top law enforcement officials know Vines. State Attorney Bernie McCabe, for example, was a young prosecutor when Vines was chief.

"I guess he has an advantage over most police chiefs," said Bennie Holder, who has been Tampa's police chief for eight years. "He's going back to the department where he was chief once before."

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright